


Three

by orphan_account



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Anxiety, Depression, I like to make characters suffer, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22586770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Kaldur and Wyynde are concerned about Garth. They just want to help. But in the process of helping, they both realize the like him.I'm still bad at summaries.
Relationships: Garth/Kaldur'ahm/Wyynde (DCU)
Kudos: 3





	1. 1

“Thank you for letting me come with you, my dear,” Wyynde spoke, leaning up against the wall of the elevator as the pair rode up to the top level of the hotel: the penthouses. Soft, calm music floated around in the air, filling the elevator with piano keys. Kaldur’ahm had been given a small task from the king, one that could be easily worked around his busy schedule, but seeing as it was his day off from the league and such, he figured he could pop in quickly and complete it. Kaldur hummed in response, taking Wyynde’s hand gently in his and leaning beside him as he found himself deep in his thoughts.  
It had been a while since he’d caught up with Garth. The last time he’d caught up with him was about a year ago when Troia and Garth nearly got assassinated. Even that was short-lived, much to his disappointment. Kaldur felt a heavy pang resonate through his heart. He missed having Garth around, but adult life for both of them had spread them apart further. Garth was diplomat and Kaldur was the leader of the Justice League, and now, he had a boyfriend in the mix.  
Kaldur pulled himself out of his thoughts.  
“Do you think Garth is awake?” Wyynde asked, fingers tracing over Kaldur’s knuckles delicately. Kaldur hummed once more, tilting his head up to look at the elevator’s ceiling, bright lights filling his retinas. He hadn’t thought of that, despite planning everything else to the T. Despite it being one o’clock in the afternoon, he knew Garth had a hard time waking up in the morning, especially when he had to pull an all-nighter the day before. It concerned him, not just from a friend’s standpoint either. Being a higherup had its pros and cons, but mostly cons.  
“I hope so,” Kaldur replied. The elevator shuddered as it reached its destination, chiming lightly before prying it’s doors open to reveal a tan, well-lit hallway, the dangling ceiling lights giving off a pleasant amber glow. Wyynde stepped out first, hand still entwined with Kaldur’s, and pulled Kaldur out of the elevator with a quick, swift motion. The elevator, having been called to another floor, shut its doors as a silent salute and raced back down to the ground steadily, “Number 5 then, shall we?”  
Wyynde nodded, sliding his hand up away from Kaldur’s hand and landing on his inner arm, holding onto it gently. Kaldur smirked and the pair began their journey down the hall, which was much less of a journey and more like a small walk. In a few steps they had already arrived at Garth’s front door, the number 5 drilled into the white door glistening as if it had just been polished. He was the only one with a doormat that lay outside of the house, and an ugly one at best, according to most surfacers. The mat had a soft texture, seeing as it was never touched my the rubber bottoms of shoes, but the feet of an Atlantean. It had a soft blue color to it, with lapping navy waves and peaceful white swirls etched into the surface. Wyynde set a foot down on it, wiggled his toes, and sighed pleasantly, “Finally, a doormat that doesn’t feel like sandpaper!”  
Kaldur rolled his eyes, chuckling, and firmly knocked on the door.  
\--- 

‘I have to stop pulling all-nighters.’ Garth thought to himself as somebody knocked on his front door, making his splitting headache a hell of a lot worse to deal with. Who was it and what did they want? He looked up from the container of Advil he clutched in his hand, little pink pills rattling as his hands trembled. He placed the cap back onto the bottle and tossed it aside onto his nightstand, which in turn, knocked off an empty plastic water bottle and a box of bandaids. He stood up from the edge of his bed, his warm, comfortable bed, walking on trembling, exhausted limbs as he walked out of his bedroom and into the large, spacious living room, going to open the door to stop the obnoxious knock, knock, knock!  
He didn’t expect Kaldur and Wynnde to be at his door.  
“... Hi Kaldur, Wyynde.” Garth greeted them in a monotone voice, his head throbbing at his voice. He winced. He stepped aside, holding the door open wide to let the duo in, “Please come in.”  
He could see the apprehensiveness in their faces, “Did we come at a bad time?”  
“No, you guys are fine. I just woke up.” he lied. He’s been up for hours, trying to keep himself afloat, “Do you guys want anything to drink? Perhaps some water?”  
Wyynde walked in, followed by Kaldur, and sort of just stood there near the door, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation, despite Garth telling them it was fine. They both had the strange, uneasy premonition that it was not fine, that he was not fine. Kaldur thought Garth looked like darkness passed him over, leaving dark bags under his eyes and dimming his eyes so that they no longer shone with a strong brilliance, bright violet becoming a dull, grey violet. Kaldur waved it off slightly, “I am fine, thank you, my friend. How have you been?”  
Garth had to consider the simple question intensely. He didn’t want to say something that would worry them, especially when they already have so much on their plates. He wasn’t going to be another issue, “I’m doing well. I just have to stop pulling all-nighters, haha.”  
Wyynde could tell by the painful tone of his voice that some of that sentence was a lie, if not all of it. He chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood, “Yeah! You need all of the energy you can get, ambassador! Especially when you know you have to work in the morning!”  
Garth nodded solemnly. Once again, they stood in an awkward standoff, Kaldur and Wyynde glancing worriedly at each other as they stood in front of a tired, achy Garth, who could feel the tension of worry pushing down roughly on his shoulders, “If you don’t mind me asking, was there something you guys needed?”  
Kaldur coughed, “Oh yeah, the king wanted to know if you were going to make it to the ball. It’s his birthday.”  
Garth felt his stomach drop a bit. He completely forgot about the king’s birthday and the fact that the kingdom liked to hold parties for said birthday, “Yeah… I should be able to make it… Are you two going?  
Kaldur could hear something in his voice, but he couldn’t put his finger on the exact emotion. Worry, perhaps? He wondered if it was the same problem he had; if he didn’t know anybody at the party, or only knew one person, it was hard to find the motivation to go. Yes, he did have Wyynde to drag along… He didn’t think Garth…  
“Kaldur and I are going, yes,” Wyynde answered for him, sensing the tight tension. What was wrong, he couldn’t quite tell, but it made him feel… Off.  
“Good,” Garth replied, yawning and stretching like a cat, arm raised to the sky with his shoulder popping, “Anything else?”  
“... No, that was all,” Kaldur replied, hand plastered to the back of his neck, “We’re… Going to go now… Maybe you should get some rest.”  
Garth simply nodded, yawning again. He must have been really tired because he started to sway where he stood, finding it difficult to ground himself. His stomach growled in a mean acknowledgment; he had forgotten to eat again, for the fifth time in a row. Garth had just ignored it before, “Yeah, some rest would be nice.”  
“When was the last time you’ve eaten?” Wyynde asked, hand coming to lay down gently on Garth’s shoulder.  
Garth shrugged, pushing off Wyynde’s hand and guiding them to the open front door, “Can’t remember. Anyway, it was nice catching up with you guys!”  
Wyynde went out first, followed by Kaldur, who had turned to say something else, but Garth didn’t hear it. He couldn’t hear anything, only the buzzing of his eardrums as he closed the door and wobbled his way to his bedroom, just barely making it to his bed before collapsing into a heap on the mattress, unconscious and lost to the world of slumber.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party Time has come!  
> (TW!!!! Self Harm is referenced!)

“That went… Well.” Wyynde commented when the pair were in the elevator again, now looking at each other as they leaned against opposite walls. They had been silent the entire time they walked down the hall, hands not even held, more focused on Garth’s roughness and worrisome behavior.   
“... Something was wrong.” Kaldur spoke, voice coming out in a worried whisper.   
Wyynde gave him a look of ‘no shit, sherlock’ and the elevator arrived at the base floor, the speaker chiming pathetically to tell them they were at their destination. Kaldur walked out first, followed by Wyynde. He placed a hand on Kaldur’s upper arm hesitantly, hand pressing down on the material of his sleeve, “Do you think we should leave? What if… What if he can’t be alone right now?”  
Kaldur paused in his stride, turning his head to look at Wyynde. Wyynde’s face was threaded with concern, eyebrows knitted with a yarn called worry. Kaldur had never seen Wyynde so worried before, “Wyynde, he said he pulled an all-nighter, he’s probably just tired.”  
“Kaldur… Couldn’t you tell that some of that, what he said, was a lie?” Wyynde retorted, practically pleading with him. It confused Kaldur. Yes, he himself was worried about Garth and his well-being, but Wyynde was… Acting a bit extreme.   
“Yes, my dear… but…” Kaldur stalled, “Sometimes, people just need to be alone. I think we came at a bad time… We’ll see him on Wednesday, remember?”  
Wyynde nodded, having partially given up. He took Kaldur’s hand, “Are you sure, Kaldur?”  
Kaldur nodded. He lied. To be honest, he wasn’t sure, “I’m sure.”  
\---   
When Garth had woken up from his pile on top of his bed, it had been 11:55 p.m. His room was pitch black with darkness, the only source of light coming from the moon, which hung high in the sky like it was royalty. Wind pushed into his room through the open balcony doors, thin, white curtains flapping smoothly like giant bird wings, beckoning him to come out and test his luck. The light of the moon illuminated the flaws of his bedroom; the piles of dirty clothes that were scattered amongst forgotten art supplies, wads of crumpled up notebook paper, some of which were either the startings of diplomatic papers or… Well, we won’t get into the second category, it’s not important.  
Garth turned onto his back, straightening out as he stared at the turning ceiling fan, the blades putting him into a mindless daze. His stomach growled again, angry at him for not having something to eat in the last three days. He nodded, gloomily, but didn’t answer his stomach’s plea, pulling his thick comforter up off his floor and curled into it, pulling it over his head. His head’s throbbing continued from earlier, putting Garth more into a mood than he already was.   
His brain was acting up again.   
‘THEY LOOKED SO HAPPY TOGETHER’ his brain practically screamed at him, ‘SO HAPPY.’ Garth wanted his head to shut up, to stop feeding him these true but mean facts. He shut his eyes, screwing them closed. Kaldur and Wyynde had come to his penthouse to ask him if he was coming to the ball on Wednesday, (while he was looking like hell, on top of it). He was, sadly. He wasn’t looking forward to it as he should. He just… Wasn’t. It wasn’t because he strongly disliked parties… It was because Kaldur and Wyynde would be there, together, as boyfriends, while he pushed down his longing feelings and tried to not look like he only got an hour of restless sleep.  
His heart throbbed harshly, feeling heavy.  
Wednesday was going to suck. 

\---

Wednesday rolled around faster than any of them had expected, and for that Wyynde was grateful. One, Wyynde was going to get the chance to talk to Garth. Ever since Monday when they saw Garth, he’s been concerned for him, not just for his physical state but also for his mental state. Garth had unintentionally triggered awful memories in him, ones that he was positive he had buried deep within his soul…  
That was beside the point.  
“Wyynde, will you zip me up, please?” Kaldur asked softly, back turned towards Wyynde as he fixed his front, tugging up the collar of his luxurious suit. In the full-length mirror, an image of himself stared back at him, only dressed in fine olive green accented by glistening gold, which shimmered when he swam about. It paired well with his dark skin. Wyynde looked equally dashing, however, his suit was a different color; soft robin egg blue accented with silver. Both their suits hugged them in all the right places, accentuating their toneness. Wyynde hummed, zipping his suit closed with one hand placed on Kaldur’s hip. He looked at him lovingly through the mirror, coming closer to hold him from behind. Kaldur chuckled smoothly, letting his head fall back so that he kissed Wyynde on the cheek, lip gloss making a translucent mark, “We should get going, we don’t want to be late.”  
Wyynde nodded, “Indeed.”  
When they arrived at the palace, they were almost swam down by Arthur Jr, who was dressed in a miniature version of the King’s suit, a stunning orange ensemble with green accents, but he didn’t have the golden crown, which twisted around his head in an intricate design, or the sheer cloak, which hung from his golden shoulders.  
“Hello, my prince,” Wyynde laughed softly as Jr. hugged Kaldur tightly in happiness, “You sure are happy today.”  
“It’s not every day there’s a party!” he replied, brushing invisible dust off of himself. He grinned. Around them, guests still poured in through the palace’s grand, towering entrance, chatting amongst themselves while they did. Some pointed towards them, others didn’t bat an eye.   
“You do have a point,” Kaldur nodded, taking Wyynde by the silk-draped arm, “Would you mind leading us? This palace is too large to remember all of its places.”  
Arthur Jr nodded quickly, waving them along as they trailed beside a heavy stream of people, going to the same place, but a lot slower than them, a long line stretching out past where their eyes can see. They all had to pass security first. As they neared their destination, the long, tall hallway became brighter, warm lights dancing out of the room to greet guests happily. Standing by the entrance of the ballroom were two guards; even they were dressed fancily for this amazing occasion, but not as fancy as they were. The trio swam in past the line, being nodded in by the guards, who held back the line so they could get in first, after all, they were special.   
Wyynde looked up and round the room in amazement. The large ballroom bustled with guests, who either danced about in the middle or sat at their tables talking amongst themselves with excited gestures. Jr led them to the large head table, having them weave between the large crowd that had gathered right in front of it. The king and queen were sat down at the gold, cloth-covered table. They actively attempted to talk to everyone that stood in front of them, but to no avail. Next to Mera, a lone chair sat empty, probably where Jr was sitting, and next to Arthur, another chair sat, but was mostly untouched. Who was going to sit there, the group didn't have a clue.   
“Kaldur! Wyynde!”  
The two turned around to meet the voice that had called them; Garth. Both of them felt their jaws threaten to drop open at the sight of him. He came swimming over to them.  
“Your outfit is… Wow…” Wyynde stuttered softly, eyeing him.   
Garth’s outfit was almost as luxurious as the king’s, but nonetheless stunning. His outfit was a brilliant ocean blue hue, with pastel blue accents. His collar was high on his neck, and at the base of the collar, a long, sheer cape sprouted and lay. The design on the cape was exquisite, and to the normal eye, it was just an exquisite design, but to Garth and Kaldur, it was Tula’s tattoo design. The suit was a one piece, and goddamn, it hugged him in all the right places. The suit was a simple one, and in the end, everything was topped off with a gentle, glittery head piece, which hugged his forehead, “Heh, thank you! Your outfit is quite lovely too!”  
“Thank you, ambassador,” Wyynde winked at him, “Were you going to speak to the king?”  
“Ah, not quite. I was going to take a seat next to him, but I don’t feel like being swarmed right now… Especially right now,” Garth responded, rubbing the back of his neck. He had sleeves on his suit, where one side was connected to a ring, which Garth wore on his middle fingers, “I was going to just… float around.”  
Kaldur hummed, “I understand. Did you just get here?”  
“I’ve been here for a bit, but I didn’t feel comfortable being out here until you two came,” Garth told them, shifting a bit, “I’m not very much of a party person.”  
The couple nodded. The crowd around the table started to take notice of them, people starting to come up and try to get their attention, (not at all paying attention to Wyynde), and began to swarm an already anxious Garth. Kaldur pulled Wyynde and himself away from Garth for the moment, smiling at Garth sadly before choosing a table to sit at, closer to the king’s table, but far away from the crowd.   
“Kaldur, if you don’t mind, I would like to have a word with Garth.”  
“Why would I mind? In fact, I think that’s good,” Kaldur smiled, “Go ahead. I think he would benefit from it at the moment too.”   
Kaldur was not in the least bit wrong. Garth was nearly surrounded with guests, and looked so uncomfortable, so ready to just bolt out of the party. Wyynde could feel the stress roll off of him in waves. Kaldur frowned, “Actually, I think i’ll help as well…”   
“I… wanted to talk to him alone… but if you can divert the crowd’s attention away from him, that would be helpful!”  
“Of course!”   
Wyynde swam around the bustling, loud people, reaching out to gently grasp his hand and pull him away while Kaldur kept the crowd away from them, directing them towards the king instead. Wyynde pulled Garth down the empty hall, the only sound audible was the distant music from the ballroom and the sound of Garth’s rapid breathing. They turned right into an abandoned room, which opened up into a balcony. Garth almost immediately went out onto the balcony, taking in a deep breath. Wyynde closed the doors. It was silent.  
… Until Garth began to cry.   
Wyynde came up to him, rubbing his back soothingly. Garth sank to the balcony floor and hugged his knees. Wyynde followed him, sitting down beside him, “It’s okay, Garth. You’re safe.”  
“I… I… I’m sorry,” Garth stuttered out, tucking his head down. His cape wrapped around him.  
“For what, Garth? You did nothing wrong! You’re under high amounts of stress, right now.”  
Garth whimpered and Wyynde wrapped his arms around him, bringing him into a tight hug. He could feel Garth hesitate, debate in his head, before hugging Wyynde back, laying his head down on Wyynde’s shoulder. Wyynde held him, letting him let all of his tears out. If he could hold him any tighter, he would have.  
They sat on the balcony floor for a while, letting Garth’s tears become sniffles, until he finally got his breath even. He pulled away from Wyynde’s embrace to lean back against the balcony bars.  
“Thank you for pulling me away… I owe you one.”  
“I could practically feel the anxiety roll off of you, I couldn’t let you flounder,” Wyynde replied, “Which apparently helped a small bit. I was going to talk to you later, but now is oportun. Can I ask you a question?”  
“Shoot.”  
“Were you actually tired when we came to visit you on Sunday?”  
There was a pause, “Yes and no… Can I be honest?”  
“Of course, Garth.”  
“I haven’t been… mentally… right for the past few months. It’s like… everything started to spiral out of control,” Garth looked down to the floor, pulling his knees back up to his chest, “I’m just so tired of it all. When you guys came to my place on Sunday, I looked like a wreck because in reality, I had spent all night awake with… thoughts. Mean thoughts about myself.”   
Wyynde could hear his voice crackling. He frowned.  
“I was worried to call someone. I didn’t want to bother anybody, so I kept all of that to myself… I don’t have a go-to person to talk to. My only true friends are you and Kaldur… but you guys have each other. I don’t want to interrupt your guys’ flow. I’m not worth that.”  
“You are so worth that, Garth!” Wyynde exclaimed, “So damn worth it! And do you know how brave you are just by telling someone, me that? That you just talk about what you’ve been experiencing. It matters so much to me, because I care about you so much. It makes my heart hurt that you feel like you have no one to talk to, but I understand that.”  
“You do?” Garth looked at him.   
“I do. I remember feeling like that the most when I was a Purist. I was still a dumb teenager at the time when I was approached by quite a large group of Atlanteans. They called themselves ‘Purists’. I had zero idea what that meant, but they were a large group, so I thought that they must be right. I had believed in what they did, with zero realization of what it truly meant. We terrorized countless people, whole groups, hurting them, telling them they were ‘wrong’ but eventually, when it was too late to leave, I came to the realization. They weren’t the ‘wrong’ and ‘messed up’ ones. I often scolded myself, not telling anyone about my doubts, but the doubts, the truth, took over. I only judged people based on what the group saw them as, not by my own sight. Many times, I had been disgusted by my deeds… but others had been doing it too, it had to be right! What I did wasn’t right, what the group wasn’t right. And when I came to this realization, I felt truly alone. So alone… I… eventually turned to self harming as a coping mechanism, to take out my frustrations, my loneliness, my sadness, my regrets on myself. When we were arrested, most of the group were placed into the penitentiary, however I was placed into a mental institute. They had discovered the self harm scars on my thighs. It took me a long time to talk about my experience, with my… feelings, but I did. And man, did I feel better afterwards! You can always, always talk to me, Garth. I don’t want you to keep suffering like this…”  
At this point, Wyynde was starting to produce some tears too. He had come to gently caress Garth’s flushed cheek and they made eye contact. Wyynde made a move, a slow move, and pressed his lips to Garth’s, letting his eyes slip closed.   
It was heavenly.   
Garth kissed back, pressing back against Wyynde’s. After a skip of breath, the two pulled away.  
“I… You’re dating Kaldur, Wyynde. I shouldn’t-”  
“No, Garth. What I tell you, might surprise you.” A voice called from the doors.  
“Kaldur?!”


End file.
